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Good choices for a basic DI?

#65
I’ve always used the JDI … works well when pushed by other sources before it

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#66
OK, I have my Tech 21 Q/strip now. As I said earlier, it will be awhile till I get back into live playing.

(My old band is taking steps toward getting back together. We will be recording new material within the next month or so, and hopefully start doing some live playing shortly thereafter. There is an idea for new band in my town, and I was told that my bass services are desired, if this project materializes. There were some super nice compliments about my playing in connection with that too, but anyway.... :D)

The Q/Strip is the final "installment" on my little pedal board. From what I can tell with just playing at home, it seems like an excellent piece of gear. It seems very well made, gives a great deal of EQ/tone control, and adds a subtle but pleasant "something" to my sound. I like it a lot so far! I am guessing that the first time I am able to play live and not have to lug an amp, I will be liking a lot more yet! Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions/comments/etc.!
 
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#67
G On Bass said:
On the other end of the fancy DI spectrum here: For years I have used an Art DualZDirect(passive) and it seems to do just fine for me and I've never had any complaints. I bought that one because
a.) I'm kinda cheap
b.) I'm not a touring or recording pro and don't need a fancy DI and probably couldn't tell the difference anyway
c.) because I can run it speaker level out of the back of my tube amp.

Although last I gigged with FOH support, I've took my little Ampeg MicroVR rig and took the DI right out of the SCR-DI pedal. Actually got compliments from sound guys on that one.

This doesn't mean that great DIs aren't great and needed, and there is a reason people spend money on them. But there can be other options in different circumstances. YMMV
Click to expand...


Hey... I've been looking at the Art ZDirect, as the Radial Stagebug has too much low end rolloff (I play in drop G), and their ProDI and JDI products are prohibitively expensive here. My signals tend to run rather hot (active basses out of a HX Stomp XL with heaps of dirt), and I'd heard some of the ART products tend to saturate and distort early. Have you found this to be the case?
 
#70
Fazz1977 said:
Hey... I've been looking at the Art ZDirect, as the Radial Stagebug has too much low end rolloff (I play in drop G), and their ProDI and JDI products are prohibitively expensive here. My signals tend to run rather hot (active basses out of a HX Stomp XL with heaps of dirt), and I'd heard some of the ART products tend to saturate and distort early. Have you found this to be the case?
Click to expand...
Honestly, I couldn't say one way or another. I've sent speaker-level tube-amp output and my active basses through it (with dirt) and never received ant push-back from FOH. But I have only used them in live situations, not critical listening settings like a studio, so I have no relative experience there. It just gets used as a glorified converter out of my board when using an unfamiliar or non-existent backline or when no other XLR is available. I'm not looking for any specific tone enhancement or color from it.
 
#72
In my search to go ampless I compared many different DI's and many different preamps.
For the sake of context, I am playing Spector Euro Basses and running a full band IEM system.

For preamps, that is going to really just depend upon your taste. I tried about 30 of them and ultimately chose the Ampeg SGT-DI. For DI boxes there are a ton of choices and ultimately you'll find they don't make a ton of difference unless you are talking about some of the higher end $500+ tube DI boxes. I was mainly using the Radial JDI which is pretty much industry standard until I went to the Ampeg SGT-DI and now I just use its DI which works GREAT.

Best of luck!
 
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#76
Fazz1977 said:
Hey... I've been looking at the Art ZDirect, as the Radial Stagebug has too much low end rolloff (I play in drop G), and their ProDI and JDI products are prohibitively expensive here. My signals tend to run rather hot (active basses out of a HX Stomp XL with heaps of dirt), and I'd heard some of the ART products tend to saturate and distort early. Have you found this to be the case?
Click to expand...
If any of this helps you at all:
The outputs on the Stomp are balanced (and they can be turned down if they're too hot).
I have a stage bug and I've never noticed any drop off at all.
I don't have that art di, but there's a similar art dti in my pa kit that I use to tie my mixer (xlr only) into house systems when necessary and that handles line level just fine.
 

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